Garbage and the Prime Minister

Photo of a random dump somewhere

Alot of the time in life I think I forget about the impact I make everyday to the environment and then I got a total reality check. Last Friday I had the pleasure of meeting the dump one on one for over an hour. It was a day of observing what happens after I sell my front lift bin. I sell Waste Management everyday and really, I didn't actually think about what I was selling. We all have garbage to get rid of but I saw on Friday how much we actually do get rid of in just one day. To be honest with you, it really is scary. My day started with the excitement of 'I am going to ride in a big garbage truck today, oh I feel like a big kid' lets just say the novelty of it wore off quickly and reality set in.



I jumped into the truck with my Bosses get the job done attitude and off we went. He then proceeds to tell me about how he had just lifted a bin and it was chock full of stuffed up, uncooked bread dough, wet, expanded, sludgy bread dough. I am talking at least 3 cubic meters of it. So we headed off to the dump to dispose of goodness knows how much garbage, my boss said about 120 cubic metres, lets just say it was a massive load. Firstly you get to the landfill and they weigh the truck and the fee charged to dump it is based on weight. Then we drive round to where the trucks dump their garbage. I have never seen so many birds. It was amazing, no exaggeration there must have been 300 ibis birds standing on top of this huge landfill of garbage. Above that there were about 30 brown coloured eagles circling above them, soaring with their wings stretched right out. It was sad to see them like that, so unnatural, so unthinkable. All of the ibis where dirty and grotty looking. We dumped our load of garbage and my boss proceeded to scrape out the inside of the truck with a shovel. It was disgusting. The smell and the vermin and all that garbage. It took my boss over an hour in the heat of the day to clean out, the inside of the back of the truck with a shovel. All I could think about was how disgusting it was and how disturbingly blind I have been about what contribution I make in protecting the environment.



I use my recycle bin but that's pretty much about it. That is about to change for me. I am going to learn to be more aware of what I throw in my bin and my actions towards the environment. I am a real lover of our country and the gorgeous land we adore. But the reality is we are rubbishing it and will it survive for our children's children to come? Gosh I hope so.



I also got to see Mr John Howard on my journey in the Garbage Truck. We passed him on his way to the airport. All comfy in his flash Mercedes Bens car dressed with ribbons and who ha. All in all it was a very interesting and thought provoking day. The last place I ever imagined I would see our Prime Minister was while I was bumping up and down in a Garbage Truck.

Cheers Amelita